


Step By Step

by agentsimmons



Series: Yours. Mine. Ours. [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Background Relationships, Background Slash, Bisexual Tony Stark, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Gay Bruce Banner, Gen, Kid Clint Barton, Kid Darcy Lewis, Kid Fic, Kid Jane Foster - Freeform, Kid Jemma Simmons, Kid Loki and Kid Thor, Kid Natasha Romanov, Kid Peter Parker, Kid Pietro Maximoff, Kid Skye | Daisy Johnson, Kid Steve Rogers, Kid Wanda Maximoff, Large Families, M/M, Parent Bruce Banner, Parent Tony Stark, Parent-Child Relationship, Protective Siblings, Science Boyfriends, Sibling Bonding, Siblings, Step-siblings, Teenage Drama, The Supersized Science Family, Unconventional Families, background Steve/Sam, kid drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-28 18:46:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 17,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8458876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentsimmons/pseuds/agentsimmons
Summary: "Are you afraid of what the kids might think?" "Maybe a little at first, but… not so much these days."The Stark and Banner kids may not technically be step-siblings yet, but that doesn't mean they aren't already brothers and sisters.





	1. Clint and Steve

**Author's Note:**

> This is a gen-fic I've been planning for a good long while that features some random vignettes of day-to-day hijinks (some sillier than others, some more average than others) these crazy kids find themselves in. With the focus being on their developing bonds over the course of the months following the end of Lucky Thirteen. 
> 
> While the narrative here isn't linear - it will jump about in different points of the timeline - I will try to establish the approximate time for each chapter, especially in relation to other stories already in the series. Finally, each chapter are of varying length, but all relatively small (I think most of them are around 1000 words). 
> 
> I meant for this to be posted one chapter a day leading up to the one year anniversary of Lucky Thirteen, but... A03 was being a glitchy jerk on me. So 4 for 1 today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline - approximately last week of March, so it's between both Manic Monday fics and Something Old, Something New.

Clint stopped in his tracks and tilted his head. Steve was tapping his foot nervously and sketching feverishly while also darting his eyes toward the empty seat beside him where Sam sat. Clint cleared his throat just to see what might happen and Steve practically jumped out of his skin and scrambled to hide whatever it was he was working on.

"Dude, what are you drawing? Porn?" Clint hissed in amusement.

Steve glared at him. "No, of course not." That didn't stop his cheeks from turning bright red.

Clint raised his hands. "Okay, but you're obviously worked up about something. You're like a skiddish bunny."

Steve sighed, leaned back a little and ran his hand through his hair. "That obvious?"

"Maybe not to everyone," Clint answered with a shrug. Not everyone had his ability to see little tells, after all. He pulled up the stool from another desk and said, "I'm guessing this is about Sam and I happened to see him get stopped by Ms. Hill to help her with something so if we're going to talk about this, let's make it quick."

Steve blinked several times. "I didn't know we were. Talking about it, I mean." Clint raised one eyebrow. "Okay," Steve gave in with another sigh. "It's about prom."

"That's like six weeks away. You already worried about that?"

"Of course," Steve said in a tone that suggested he was offended that Clint had to ask. "It's senior prom and Sam. This is a special thing that only comes once in a life time."

"I don't get why prom has a monopoly on dances," Clint said with a shrug, "but I guess it's a big deal since you're both nominated for the prom royalty whatever nonsense." Then he smirked. "And since senior prom is usually a _very_ special night."

"I'd feel better if you didn't let your mind go there when talking about me and Sam, if it's all the same," Steve said, looking away. Clint rolled his eyes. "The thing is, yeah, it's supposed to be special and I'm afraid I'm going to screw it up."

"How?" Clint asked with a scoff. "By being the nauseatingly perfect boyfriend you always are? Yeah, I can see how that would make it a damn miserable night for Sam."

"That's just it. Sam and I don't really think much about the traditional roles people try to box couples into."

"You mean you're both the girl," he couldn't resist teasing him.

"Haha. But you know what I mean, clearly. I open the door for him, he opens it for me. We take turns paying for stuff. We both—"

"I'm gonna stop you there," Clint said, holding up a hand. "Mostly because I've seen you two enough to know that already. But also because I don't need to know every single detail. What does this have to do with prom?"

"Well, it's… it's like getting married. You know?" Clint didn't know, but kept his face neutral. "Who proposes? Does one of the grooms wear white? I didn't realize how subtle that kind of stuff is. I want to ask him to prom more than anything and make it the best night possible for us, but do you think that means I'm asserting myself as the," he air-quoted, "'male' of the relationship? Am I treating him like the girl?"

"Oh boy." Clint scrubbed his face. What was that term Natasha had been preaching about? Something to do with heterosexuality being considered the default and causing issues for all other orientations whether they even realized it or not? "Yeah, I'm not sure we have time for this conversation right now."

"Right."

Steve's face fell and Clint realized he was genuinely worried about this. He was perhaps being foolish, but still. Steve rarely seemed to need anybody's guidance, outside of their dads, or at least didn't really go to any of them for help so Clint couldn't just leave him hanging without offering whatever advice he could give.

"So, we'll have to continue this conversation later," Clint told him and Steve's eyebrows shot up. "We haven't hung out just you and me for a little while." It was hard to ever hang out with just one person at a time in their massive-sized family. "So, how about we chill in your room or mine with our homework and a couple of awful movies after school? Barring no incidents."

"Well, still not like I can do much these days anyhow," Steve said with a laugh as he lifted one of his crutches that leaned against the desk.

"Right, so—"

"Hey, uh, Clint?" Clint turned to see Laura looking back and forth between them. "Or Steve," she added. "I was wondering if either of you could give Natasha her history notes back for me?" She had a notebook in hand. Clint raised an eyebrow. "I would, but I usually only see her a couple of times a day because of our different schedules and she probably needs them back before class tomorrow."

"Uh, yeah," Clint took it, "no problem."

"Thanks," she said with a pleasant smile and went to take a seat just as the period bell went off.

Going on a hunch Clint hazarded a quick look inside the notebook as he passed by Steve, stopping so he could look as well. Sure enough, there was a folded note on the inside cover stuck there with a flower sticker. He closed it again and looked at Steve with a scowl as the older boy snickered. It wasn't like girls weren't allowed to make friends with other girls, after all. She was probably just saying thanks and asking if she'd like to hang out some time.

"Wow," Steve teased in a whisper, "my ace sister picks up chicks better than you."

"Haha," Clint snarked, "like _you_ have any room to talk smack about picking up _chicks_ these days."

"Touché," Steve conceded with a genuine chuckle.

"And fyi," Clint added as he sat down in his seat at the desk behind him, "she's my ace sister now too."

Steve turned to look at him over his shoulder with a wide smile and a nod. Then his eyes darted toward Laura again and he tried to stifle another snicker.

"Another laugh out of you," Clint warned, but without any real threat, "and you'll have to find a different brother to help you with your boy troubles." Of course, that only made them both laugh until the teacher told them to settle down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Oops. My hand slipped with the lowkey Natasha/Laura tease. Because I think the potential for that ship (and no, not in an ot3 way involving Clint on my part) was my favorite aspect of Laura being introduced (I have a lot of unpublished Natasha/Laura stuff and some scibf stuff where Natasha/Laura is one of the bg ships). Besties or more, I'm definitely here for Natasha and Laura. So I think they'll at least become good friends in this series - e.g. Laura might get some more mentions in the future. (In gen, the series needs more bg characters mentioned as friends since obviously the kids have lives outside of the family so I might start to build up the world a little more in that way.)  
> 2\. Also Clint being jealous of Natasha seemed funny to me idk.  
> 3\. BB Steve is trying so hard to be the best boyfriend ever while still trying to figure out relationships in general oop (and probably still a little embarrassed about what happened when he was on medicine and naming his and Sam's future kids lol.)


	2. Thor and Skye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for sexual harassment.
> 
> Timeline - the week of prom which I've made May 14th, 2016 for them in this verse. So this takes place shortly after Something Old, Something New.

Thor was running late for practice, dashing through the school as fast as he could, when he rounded a corner and came to a screeching halt. He nearly went into a Berserker rage then and there. If he were actually the god of thunder the boy harassing his sister would have already been struck down by lightning.

"I said _no_ , Ward." Skye tried to push past him, only to be bracketed against the lockers. "I swear if you don't let me pass... Look, I'm not interested in going with you to the prom," she told him. "My dads wouldn't let me anyway so just go with someone else."

"The heart wants what the heart wants, Skye," Ward insisted and Thor didn't like the way he leaned in too close like he might actually assault her somehow. "And it wants to go with you—"

Before Thor could do anything, or Ward could either for that matter, the boy found his arm in a vice grip and then in a blink he was lying on the ground. It was a self-defense move both he and Natasha had helped her and the others learn.

"Then maybe you should tell your heart to branch out a little," she told him. "And don't even think about telling Principal Fury I assaulted you." She pointed. "There's a security camera right there and the only one who's going to report anything here is me."

With that she hurried down the hall and around another corner. Thor rushed toward the boy as he was standing to his feet and slammed him against the locker.

"How does it feel to be cornered by someone bigger than you, hmm?" Ward's eyes were wide with what seemed like genuine fear and Thor dropped him. "I don't care if Principal Fury doesn't excuse my actions," he said. "You're lucky Skye already has this handled. But if you come near my sister again, you won't be so lucky. Pick your battles, Grant Ward. She has four older brothers and an older sister and I assure you every single one of us is capable of kicking your ass without any backup."

Thor gave him a disdainful look over and then followed in the direction Skye had gone. He was surprised when he turned the same corner she had and found her at the end of the hall, sitting on the stairs and looking shaken. He hurried over to her and dropped down to sit beside her. Up close he could see she was trembling a little and he immediately wrapped his arms around her.

"Oh god," she choked on a small sob and then melted into his hug, wrapping her arms around him in turn and burying her head into his chest. "Oh god, he…" She shook her head and he hugged her more tightly. "I was starting to believe he might be a jerk, but I didn't think…"

"I know," Thor offered, hoping he was being at least a little comforting. He wasn't as good at it as his dad. Well, either dad. "I warned him never to try that kind of stunt again."

"You didn't?" She pulled back and looked at him in disbelief.

"Of course I did," he replied with a scoff. "Nobody messes with the people I care about that easily."

Skye closed her eyes tight and then dropped her head back down to his chest. "Thank you, Thor. I don't… I don't want to go anywhere near him again. He might—"

"I won't allow it," Thor rumbled. "But I think we should go ahead with telling Principal Fury. And… if not our dads," he hesitated, not knowing how she might feel about that part, "then at least the others so they know to be on lookout in case Fury doesn't do anything."

"I guess you're right," Skye responded with a snivel.

"Not that you didn't handle it," he told her and she moved to sit back up beside him, wiping at her eyes with the corners of her jacket's sleeves. She looked at him dubiously then. "Seriously. You executed the move brilliantly."

She smiled and then gave a small snort. "I was pretty good, wasn't I?" Then she furrowed her brow. "Don't you have practice you need to get to?"

"Yes," Thor answered, "but that's not important right now." He stood to his feet and held out a hand to her. She took it and he pulled her into another strong hug. "You're what matters," he said with conviction.

Skye sighed and hugged him back. "I'm glad you're my brother now, Thor," she said. "If only for your hugs," she added in a teasing tone before ending the embrace.

Thor smiled at her. "I'm glad you're my sister," he returned the sentiment. "And you're welcome to a hug anytime," he assured her.


	3. Peter and Darcy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for body-shaming of a kid, and eating disorder mentality/scare.
> 
> Timeline - Takes place shortly before _Something Borrowed, Something Blue_ (and after Jane's and Darcy's birthdays which are June 9th and 13th in this verse based on Natalie and Kat).

"If you're not going to eat your dinner roll, can I have it?" Peter asked Darcy, looking at the mostly still full plate that sat beside his mostly empty one. He then glanced at her with a tilt of his head.  

"Sure," she answered and passed it to him. Peter was expecting her to say no, but didn't question it. Nobody else would have given up their dinner roll so easily. He knows he wouldn't have. 

"Darcy, you've barely touched your dinner, sweetheart." His dad stopped talking to Skye about a project she was working on and looked at Darcy. "Are you feeling okay?" He glanced down the table and Peter turned to see Tony was looking back in concern.  

"I'm just not hungry I guess," she answered.  

"I noticed like half a thing of cookies gone when I went to get some," Pietro said. Peter's eyes widened, and he darted them around, wondering if anyone suspected. "Maybe she spoiled her dinner," he added in a tattling way.  

"Did you?" Tony asked her. 

Peter felt guilty and knew he'd get in more trouble if he let someone else take the blame, but before he could confess Darcy said, "Yeah, I did. I'm sorry. I just started eating them and couldn't stop." His mouth fell open in surprise.  

"I bet your stomach doesn't feel too good, does it?" his dad asked her. She pouted and her chin shook like she might cry as she shook her head. He sighed and glanced at Tony then back at her. "Okay, well, I'm sure you've learned your lesson. Why don't you go lie down a little bit and I'll make you some tea that'll soothe your stomach?" 

"It totally works!" Harley told her.  

"Okay," Darcy replied, but Peter thought she still looked like she might cry as she pushed away from the table and left.  

Why had she lied about the cookies? Did she know he had done it and was trying to keep him from getting in trouble? Peter couldn't stop thinking about it for the rest of dinner. He thought about it so much that he couldn't eat the dinner roll. 

"Maybe she'll want it later," he'd said when Tony asked him why he'd put it back on her plate. 

Tony had given him a proud smile and said, "She might. Thank you." Then to his dad, Tony had said, "I'll go ahead and put her food away just in case." 

Peter couldn't stop thinking about it after dinner either. Finally, he decided he had to ask her. Jane was helping Skye with her project along with Wanda and their dads were helping with homework so Peter went to Darcy's room knowing she'd be there by herself. He found her lying in bed, staring at a cup of tea on her nightstand. 

"Are you feeling any better?" he asked and went to sit in the chair at Jane's desk.  

"I'm fine," she said, rolling over onto her back.  

"So," Peter looked down at the floor, scrunching his face, before looking back at her, "why did you lie about the cookies?" 

"What do you mean!?" Darcy sat up quickly and looked at him. 

Peter pushed his glasses back up his nose and shrugged. "You told our dads you ate all those cookies, but you didn't. I did. Unless you ate other cookies," he suddenly considered. 

"I… I, uh…" She looked like she was worried. "I just wasn't hungry, okay?" She said in a hushed tone, "And you know our dads would have made me eat if I didn't have an excuse."  

Peter frowned. "You sure don't seem to be very hungry anymore." Her eyes widened. "I saw you throw out some of your food at school the past couple of days too," he explained. He tilted his head. "Maybe you're sick. You should tell one of our dads." 

"No!" she exclaimed. "You can't tell them! I'm not sick, okay? I'm just not very hungry, like you said. That's not a crime." 

Peter puffed out his cheeks as he thought about it. Something didn't seem right, but he wasn't sure what. She was probably right that it wasn't a crime not to eat a lot. Especially when if you ate as much as they all usually did, people joked about how it was amazing they weren't…fat. An answer, or at least a hypothesis, came to him.  

"Are you trying to lose weight?" he asked her. 

"I, um," Darcy looked nervous and definitely guilty. Finally, she sighed. "Okay, yes. I want to lose weight." 

"Why?" Peter asked then.  

Her chin trembled again. "Because!" She turned to sit on the side of her bed and took her glasses off, putting them on her nightstand. "Because I'm fat," she said, and wiped at her eyes. "I'm fat and ugly."  

"No, you're not," Peter said, and he meant it.  

All of his sisters were really pretty, for girls who were his sisters, but Peter didn't care about that so much. He just wanted his sisters to be cool and not always annoying. Sometimes Darcy was an annoying girl, but she was pretty cool too. She liked to watch movies and listen to music and play games and do things other than science or talk about cute boys.  

"That's not what the people said about my pictures on the internet." 

"What people?" Peter was confused. 

Darcy gave a long sigh like she was annoyed, but got up and went over to her desk. Peter got up and moved to stand behind her as she pulled up a website on her computer. His eyes widened when he saw some of the photos from her and Jane's birthday trip into the city the weekend before. They were just pictures of them walking around, but Darcy scrolled down to some of the comments and pointed.  

"See, they're calling me the fat one," she said. "And this one says my face is unfortunate." She scrolled down and read another one. "'Yikes! She's one of Tony's right? Obviously she got all of the worst traits of him and Dr. Hansen.'" Her voice cracked like she might cry and Peter frowned. Those comments were really mean. 

"Well," he noticed a couple of comments below that one, "they're not all mean. This one says people should be ashamed of... dragging a kid..." He scrunched his face, not knowing what that meant exactly. "And this one says, 'watch, she'll be the bombshell of the family and you'll all have to eat your words.' Bombshell is good right?" 

"Yeah," she said with a small snivel. "But most of them are mean. Most people think I'm fat and ugly so it must be true. I don't know if I can stop being ugly, but I can stop being fat." 

"These people are just stupid," Peter argued. "And we're not supposed to even look at these sites. Our dads said we shouldn't pay attention to the gossip sites and magazines, remember?"  

"I wasn't going to," she said with a shrug. "But a friend sent me the pictures so I Googled more and just... read the comments. It doesn't change anything. I'm still fat—" 

"You're going to keep saying that until I compliment you aren't you?" Peter groaned. "You know brothers don't want to tell their sisters they're pretty," he said matter-of-factly. She didn't respond. "Fine. You're pretty, okay?"  

"You're just saying that." 

"Well, yeah, because I'm trying to make you feel better, but it's still true. I just wouldn't say it if you didn't need cheering up." He shrugged.  

"Boys," she mumbled, but then looked at him hopefully. "You think I'm pretty?"  

Peter sighed, not wanting to have to admit it again. "I mean, for a sister," he answered. "So that should make you even prettier to people not related to you. And maybe the people who said those things all need glasses like us." 

"That's really sweet," she said with a small smile and hiccup.  

Peter rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah." Then he twisted his face. "Also you should probably eat. You could starve to death if you don't. Aren't you hungry? I'd be so hungry by now." Suddenly she burst into tears and, honestly, Peter wasn't sure what he'd said wrong. He looked around and then debated going and getting their dads. "What's wrong now?" he asked. 

"I'm really, _really_ hungry," she answered between sobs. "Losing weight is hard and it doesn't feel good." 

"Well... Your dinner was saved," he told her, wondering if it would help. "I even put your roll back so you could have it."  

"You did?" She stopped crying for a second and looked at him.  

"Yeah. So you should go eat. Especially if you're really hungry." 

She looked uncertain for a moment, but then wiped her eyes and nodded. "Thanks, Peter," she said, and tried to give him a hug. 

"Ew, gross," he pushed her back and she rolled her eyes before leaving the room.  

Peter left a minute later, but was surprised when he ran into his dad in the hall. Before he could say anything, his dad pulled him into a hug. "I love you, Peter. So very much." He got another unexpected hug from Tony later. 

Dads could be so weird sometimes.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. This was a fun one to write because Peter and Darcy don't interact a lot in the other stories I've done so far. And it was fun trying to find Peter's voice as a little brother not wanting to be mushy but also wanting to help somehow and not be mean. (obviously that's not to say some little brothers aren't just really sweet without the rolling of the eyes and stuff lol - and then some little brothers are jerks who would call you fat too -_-)  
> 2\. This was also a hard one to write as body-shaming, eating disorders, self-esteem issues, etc. are things I personally struggle with as an adult from time to time. It's the internalized stuff at Darcy's age that sinks its teeth in and makes it hard to shake. The notion is inspired by the original film Yours, Mine, & Ours (not the remake) where one of the little girls is grossly shamed for being a little bigger and it's played as a joke when she finally decides to stop eating because a boy asked her to a dance and she wants to fit into a dress... like it's always bothered me (because clearly that boy liked her enough to ask her regardless of everyone going on about how she's always eating and stuff) so I wanted to flip that narrative here. And I'm using Darcy as the vehicle based on Kat Dennings being told she should pretty much change everything about herself to be a star.  
> 3\. Additionally please don't think I'm making it a little too easy for her to have found a little bit of relief in the moment to go eat. I'm not trying to trivialize the struggle of self-esteem, eating disorder mentality, etc. I'm only basing it on my own experiences where a positive remark and/or my hunger would make it so I would get over it for a little while, but that didn't make it go away magically. So this may come up again in this series. We'll see. But the point is, in this she's literally recently turned 12 and the pendulum swings from one extreme to the other when you're 12 for a lot of people. And obviously Darcy grows up to be pretty self-assured, so I think it's fun (and encouraging?) to imagine it's because of all of the ego-boosting she'd get from her dads and siblings eventually helping her to realize how awesome she is and that it's the people who don't see that who are wrong.  
> 4\. I couldn't resist Bruce overhearing the conversation and letting it play out without interfering. But you know he and Tony had a very long discussion about all things media and self-esteem and Darcy will be getting some extra reaffirmation on those fronts (and all of them by extension) from them <3  
>  ~~5\. guess the website guess~~


	4. Pietro and Loki

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline wise - sandwiched somewhere between the Manic Monday fics and the last week of April since Steve is still on his crutches.

Pietro took a deep breath and opened one eye to look in the mirror again. Maybe it wasn't that bad after all... His other eye flew open. Nope, it was really, really bad. He was in so much trouble. 

He looked at the time on his phone. There was no way he could fix this before his dads came home and grounded him. He didn't know the first thing about hair.  

Maybe he could ask one of the others. Pietro hurried out of his room and ran into Loki.  

"Watch where you're going," Loki spat. "Imagine if I'd been Steve on his crutches." Pietro winced, imagining running into him and re-injuring his foot somehow.  

"Sorry, I just—" 

"Oh my god, what did you do to your hair?" Loki interrupted him and Pietro realized he was looking at him with wide-eyed amusement.  

"I was trying to get some blonde streaks like some other boys at school," he answered. Then looked down. "The internet said you're supposed to use bleach." 

"And you..." Loki gave a strangled cough, like he was choking on a laugh. "Oh, this is _too_ good. You look like a spotted skunk or something." 

"I know!" Pietro spat back, looking up at him. "I'm so dead unless I fix it. You have a lot of hair products and stuff. Do you know how I can?" 

Loki blinked and looked him over a few times like he was startled by the question. "Can I magically dye your hair back to its natural color? Without our dads finding out? No, not a chance," Loki answered with a shake of his head. Pietro's shoulders slumped. "Can I make it less of a disaster for you?" He sighed heavily like he was being asked to do something really boring that he didn't want to do. "I suppose." 

"Really!?" Pietro perked up immediately. "How?" 

Loki rolled his eyes and sighed again. "Follow me." Loki led him to his bathroom and Pietro's eyes widened when he saw just how much stuff the older boy had for hair. "This is some old hair dye from when I considered going a light shade of brown with blonde highlights." He shuddered as he set a box on the counter. "Lord only knows why I've held onto it." Then he rummaged for something else. "But first," he pulled it out, "we'd better deep condition your hair to prevent too much damage from the bleach."  

"Okay..." Pietro furrowed his brows, trying to understand what Loki was suggesting. "So, I deep condition my hair." Whatever that meant. "And then what?" 

"Then I will dye your hair with the contents of this box," Loki said in an impatient tone. "And however it turns out is how it turns out. I make no promises. And our dads may still ground you for dying your hair without asking them. You realize that too, right?" 

Pietro sighed. "Yeah, but it looks horrible." 

"It does," Loki agreed. "So let's see what we can do about it." 

It was a weird process and took almost two hours. Pietro wasn't sure he understood why anyone wanted to dye their hair at all. He complained about it as Loki dried his hair with a hair dryer.  

"Well, when you do it right, it doesn't usually take this long," Loki countered. "This is precisely why peer pressure is a fool's game to play."  

"What?"  

"Doing what everyone else does just to be cool is stupid," he rephrased. "And most cool people are stupid."  

"I wasn't trying to be cool," Pietro defended. "I just thought it looked neat. If everyone shaved their heads and said it was cool I'd definitely disagree. I like my hair."  

Loki snorted. "Well, then," he turned off the dryer and set it down, "I guess you're not completely hopeless." He brushed his hair several times over. "And lucky for you, neither was your hair." 

Pietro's eyes widened and he jumped up from sitting on the closed toilet to look in the mirror. "Woah! It's so cool! It looks really good." 

"But only if you style it just so," Loki warned and came over beside him. With the brush he pulled up some of his hair. "Some spots are still a little patchy. You'll have to probably let those grow out and then get it cut out. Who knows. Maybe our dads will make you shave your head and start over," he said with an impish quirk of his lips and a teasing 'eh-heh-heh.' "At the least you should deep condition once a week."  

Pietro wasn't worried about any of that. He was just glad that his hair didn't look awful anymore. Maybe his dads would even agree it looked cool and not be too mad at him. They definitely wouldn't make him shave his head. Probably. 

"Thanks, Loki," Pietro said.  

"Yes, well," Loki looked away, "I was feeling generous. Don't get used to it." 

Pietro just rolled his eyes. "Whatever, bro. I won't ruin your rep."  

Loki's lips twisted into a real smile, if a little sharp. "See that you don't." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Do not try this at home kids. No, really, don't. I've had my hair turn out exactly like that trying to bleach it as a kid (not using actual bleach though - please don't do that!). And also you really, really shouldn't just try to dye over it yourself and most definitely not directly after the incident. Basically, don't do what Pietro and Loki have done. Tell your dads and seek help from a professional hairstylist.  
> 2\. Ah, Loki. Ever the Drama King who actually cares about people in this verse and hates himself for not being as misanthropic as he aspires to be.  
> 3\. Tbh most of this chapter was self-indulgent. I just felt like saying wth and making Loki the truly fabulous Loki he can be in this verse. Able to know the importance of deep conditioning and how to dye one's hair at home.   
> 4\. The light brown with blonde highlights is a joke regarding Tom Hiddleston's actual usual hair color.


	5. Natasha and Harley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline - This is one that's a bit of a free for all. It could be anywhere between the end of Lucky Thirteen and the start of Something Old Something New. But I'd say given Natasha's thought patterns in this one, it's probably somewhere in the middle, but maybe a tad nearer to LT.

Natasha was good at observing people and surroundings. That didn’t mean she was necessarily one to go out of her way to do anything about those observations unless they affected her directly. She wasn’t a particularly altruistic person. She’d been trying to change that though.

It seemed impossible not to open up a little more than she'd been used to doing now that she was part of an even bigger family and had not only her dad to encourage her, but Tony too. Then there had been a couple of turning points in her life: opening up to her dad about her orientation and the very real fear that had gripped her when Jemma had gone missing and Tony had ended up in the hospital.

She'd had nightmares for weeks. Nightmares about losing her family for a second time in her life and nightmares about her siblings being kidnapped like she'd been and nightmares where it had been all her fault for not doing everything she could to prevent it, just like she felt she hadn't done anything to make Jemma feel loved. Her dad and Tony had helped her through that period and insisted she needn't feel that what happened with Jemma was something for her to feel responsible for, but some of the concern lingered. She didn't want to take her family for granted and she didn't want them to think she didn't care even if she wasn't the most adept at showing it.

So when after a couple of weeks of consistent sulking and despondent behavior it became clear something was up with Harley, Natasha decided to at least offer some kind of help. She wasn't sure he'd take it, but she figured it was worth a shot.

"Hey, Harl," she found him aggressively playing pinball by himself and decided to seize the opportunity, "want to lose against me at something? Any game. Your pick."

"What? Nobody else to hang out with?" he asked with a snort as he continued to rack up points.

"I could ask you the same thing since you don't normally do the lone wolf thing," she pointed out.

He frowned and lost the ball. He glanced at her. "Just feel like going solo for a bit." He shrugged.

"So no to losing against me at something? Darts? Bowling? Foosball? Nothing at all?"

"I'm the better bowler," he countered.

"Statistically speaking," Natasha replied. "Doesn't guarantee you'll win against me."

Harley studied her for a moment. "Alright, you're on."

Natasha walked with him over to one of the bowling lanes and input their information into the computer to start the game. "You're up first," she told him.

They went three frames just bowling and making idle smack talk before Harley asked, "So why are you really bowling with me?"

"To prove I can beat you, obviously," Natasha answered, choosing to deflect at first. He realized it for what it was and rolled his eyes. "And because I figured you could use the distraction. You don't have to tell me what's going on that's got you all sullen lately, but I'm sure whatever it is isn't the end of the world. And you know I'm older than you so I may be able to give you some neutral advice."

"It's nothing. Just something stupid."

"You're probably right," she said to that with a snort.

"Hey!"

She shrugged before bowling a gutter ball. "Most kid drama is."

There were another two frames spent in silence until Harley broke it with a sigh. "Peter's been acting weird. I asked him about it and he got mad at me. So we haven't really been talking much or hanging out. Not even at school."

"That seems unlikely as close as you are." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"It's true," Harley insisted. "First Peter kept spacing out and then he wanted to pair up with somebody else on a project in class. It was cool getting a best friend who's also like my brother. I don't want that to go away. I don't know what I did to make him annoyed with me."

"Are you sure he's annoyed?" Natasha considered Harley's story carefully.

"Why else would he suddenly not want to be my partner? We do everything in school that we can together."

"And you said he was acting spacey before this?" Natasha furrowed her brow. "Spacey how?"

"I don't know, just spacey," Harley answered as he bowled a strike. He pumped his first a few times and then turned to look at her. He hitched a shoulder. "Like he wouldn't pay attention to me. I'd be telling him a joke and he'd just totally ignore me. I'd be like, 'dude, where was your head at?' and he'd just say, 'I don't know.' It's like he doesn't even want to talk to me about anything."

Natasha narrowed her eyes, tilted her head slightly and looked at nothing in particular. "Harley," she asked, "is Peter friends with this other person he's doing the project with? Like do you hang out with them already?"

"No, it's the new girl. She's cool I guess and we've talked to her obviously, but we don’t hang out with her or anything."

Natasha rolled her eyes and her head as well. "You really don't get it?" She wondered what that might mean about him, but decided that didn’t matter for the time being. He looked at her with an expectant expression. "Peter has a crush on the new girl." And wasn't that actually interesting kid drama. Was it Peter's first crush?

"What!?" It was a good thing Harley didn't have his bowling ball in hand. Natasha was fairly certain he would have dropped it. "No way!"

"Way," she deadpanned. "He's probably spacey because he's busy daydreaming about her. And he's probably afraid to tell you about it because he thinks you'll make fun of him for liking an icky girl. And he wants to do the project with her—"

"Oh," Harley interrupted. "Because he likes her and wants a reason to hang out with her. Well, that's just stupid!"

"I told you it probably was," Natasha said with a smirk.

"I mean why didn't he just tell me? We're like best bros, literally," he complained. "He's supposed to tell me everything and I'm supposed to tell him everything."

"Would you tell him if you had a crush?" She raised one eyebrow, and admittedly was genuinely curious.

"I don't know. Probably. I think so. I don't know." He didn't seem too able to commit to an answer. "I've never had a crush on anyone, but I don't see why I wouldn't tell him."

"Well, hate to break it to you, but most people seem to think crushes are horribly embarrassing for some reason. I don't get it since I don't really crush the same way as other people do and maybe you don't either, but most people make a really big deal about it and think nobody should know about it."

"I thought that's just how people act in shows and movies," Harley said with a crinkle of his nose.

"Sadly, it's very real."

"So, what should I do?" Harley asked after a moment of silence. Their game forgotten for now. "I don't like Peter being mad at me. Or ignoring me because of some girl."

"I can't help you with the jealousy thing," Natasha told him. She'd had enough of that with Steve. "Because no matter what someone's probably going to come between you a little bit eventually. That's just life and you have to get used to it. But you're a little luckier than most people already."

"I am?"

"Most people grow apart from their best friend, move away, and then never really get a chance to see each other again. But even when you and Peter start making new friends and having different lives, you'll still be brothers. And brothers don't really have to ever grow apart if they don't want to, you know? There'll be plenty of stuff like this to share with each other over the years. So just let him know you want to share that, make sense?"

"I think so. I should tell him it's cool if he likes a girl and wants to hang out with her instead of me?"

"That's what a good brother would do," she confirmed.

Harley sighed. "Okay. I hope that works."

"Don't worry, kid," Natasha said, grabbing her bowling ball again to restart the game as she did. "Peter's crush probably won't last. She'll probably do something completely innocuous and he'll think she's icky again," she teased. "Boys are dumb like that."

"Hey!" Harley protested. "We're not dumb like that!" She gave him a skeptical look. "Not all of us anyway."

She snorted. "Spoken like a boy." He scowled at her, shaking his head and looking like he wanted to stick his tongue out. "But I guess you're not so bad," she added, indulging in a small but genuine quirk of her lips.


	6. Wanda and Jane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline - takes place right before Something Old, Something New, while Tony and Bruce are away for their anniversary. Thus, it intentionally echoes some of the feelings that end up expressed in that story.

Wanda was curled up in one corner of the couch in the library when Jane wandered in and started looking through the myriad of books they had.  They smiled at each other in acknowledgment and then Wanda went back to reading _The Bicentennial Man_. Of course, Wanda also couldn't help observing Jane out of the corner of her eye as she read one of her favorite stories. She seemed to be wandering rather aimlessly over the shelves and there was more than one small sigh. She pulled out a book only to shake her head and put it back again.

This happened two more times before Wanda decided to ask, "Not sure what you want to read?"

Jane sighed more audibly and looked at her with a nod. "Yeah, I guess so. I started reading a YA book and got bored." Wanda snorted. "So I decided maybe I'd look for a science book to peruse since your dad has so many."

"Some belonged to my grandfather," Wanda explained and Jane nodded once as she came over and sat down in another chair. "But that seems boring too?" Wanda guessed.

Jane sighed again. "Do you ever get in those moods where you're just so bored that you just can find anything to do to relieve it?"

"Definitely," Wanda said, closing the novella and setting it aside. "I think it's more than just being bored though."

"Yeah, I get that feeling too. It's like… like you want to do _something_ , but you don't know what that something is…"

"…because maybe you just haven't ever done it before and it's something you just can't do?" Wanda looked at her with wide eyes and Jane mirrored her expression. "That's exactly how it feels," she said, excited that somebody else understood. "And I don't think it's always the same thing every time," she continued.

Jane moved to sit beside her on the couch, pulling her legs up in a crossed position. Wanda readjusted her own position, twisting so she could see her better.

"Yeah!" Jane agreed. "Like, sometimes, I think maybe I just want to travel somewhere, anywhere. Or other times I want to stay at home and try something new. Maybe I want to learn a new hobby."

"Or maybe you just want to talk," Wanda suggested. "I know it has to be that for me sometimes because sometimes I start talking to JARVIS about anything and everything and it just feels exhilarating. It just feels good to talk and it takes away the boredom."

"Yeah," Jane said with a considering expression and slow nod. "I think so," she agreed, her tone suggesting she'd never thought of that possibility before. "Like right now." She glanced at Wanda. "I'm not bored anymore. And we haven't even really talked about anything," she said with a giggle.

"Do you think the boredom is loneliness in that case?" Wanda pondered.

"Do you think it's possible to be lonely when we have so many people in our lives?" Jane asked. Something in her voice was both hesitant and genuinely curious, like maybe she already knew the answer.

"Yeah," Wanda answered. "My dad is proof of that." Jane raised an eyebrow. "Right before he went off to the conference and met your dad, he seemed really lonely to me. He had us, but there was something else he was lonely for. It was like there was a missing connection."

"Dad was the same," Jane said when Wanda paused for a moment. "He had us, he had friends, and he had work. He didn't really do much of anything else. I guess we all get stuck in patterns."

"Routines," Wanda agreed. "And then we want something else, but we don't always know what it is. With dad, I thought he was lonely for companionship, but now I think it was more than that."

"Maybe we all get lonely for companionship," Jane reasoned. "Maybe that's why talking makes us feel better. We're making a human connection which is a crucial part of human evolution and development."

"I think so," Wanda hedged, "but maybe it's more complex than that. For us right now it's probably just wanting to sit down and connect with one person. But with my dad, I think he was lonely for your dad. He just didn't know it yet."

"Wow," Jane said, eyes going wide. "That's really deep. And romantic," she added with a sigh.

Wanda nodded and smiled. "I think that's why none of his other dating attempts worked. He was lonely for something those people couldn't give him. You know how we think sometimes we're bored because we want to do something and it's something different every time?"

"Mhmm."

"I think for my dad it was like he was lonely for all of those things at once and then he met someone that _was_ all of those things. Not just someone to connect with, but someone to give him all the somethings he didn't even know he wanted. All the unspoken things he couldn't put a finger to, like we can't. Now he has them because he has your dad. And maybe because he has you guys too."

Jane tilted her head. "You know," she said slowly, "I haven't had that bored feeling for a long time. I love my brothers and sisters and my old friends, but I didn't have much in common with any of them. So I think I was lonely for more people who understood me. My family loves me, but that doesn't mean they understand. Well, dad does, but…" She shrugged. "But at the conference it was like everything changed when I met Skye. And then I met your dad and… I'd never been happier than I was at that conference and I just couldn't explain it. There were people who understood me and who I understood. And dad seemed like a different person. I wanted him to always be like he was there. He must have been lonely for your dad too."

Wanda listened to Jane spiel about her experience and felt a longing to have been there too if only to see the way it had happened between their dads at the first, but she could still recall the way her dad had seemed like a different person too when he first returned home a year prior. Even now it was like he was both the same man as before and also a different one. Wanda was pretty sure it was really that he was a whole man again, able to express the parts of him that had been buried for years.

"I'm so glad they found each other," Jane broke the silence and leaned her head back on the couch.

"Me too," Wanda said, leaning her head back as well.

Jane moved just a fraction and their heads leaned together. "I'm glad because now I have you and Skye and Darcy," she said. "Your brothers too," she added like an afterthought and Wanda giggled in understanding. "You three understand me where sometimes Natasha and Jemma don't. I don't feel so disconnected anymore. And I guess when I do feel it, I don't have to go very far to find you or the others."

Wanda smiled. "I'm glad for that reason too. I like talking to Natasha about things that I can't with Skye because we're so different. And I like talking to you about pretty much everything," she said honestly. Jane understood what it was like to be outgoing, but not in the same sense as Skye or Darcy. "And I even love sharing my room with Jemma. It's nice having somebody else around."

They were quiet again and Wanda thought about their dads who were currently in Germany celebrating their anniversary. She was sure they were having a lovely time and she hoped that soon it would be more than just a dating anniversary. They'd all been lonely for something they couldn't put a name to and now they had. For the Starks the name was Banner and for the Banners the name was Stark. Wanda couldn't possibly imagine a world now, except maybe one where her mother had lived, where there were no Banners and she didn't want to.

"Do you want our dads to get married?" Wanda decided to ask while they were on the topic. She wanted to know where everyone stood on the matter just in case.

"Yeah," Jane answered softly. "I really do. I really want your dad to be my dad too. I didn't know I could want that."

"And I didn't know I could want another parent again," Wanda admitted in a small voice. "But I do. Your dad is special."

Jane took her hand and Wanda leaned her head on the slightly taller girl's shoulder. "And I really want to be your sister," she added.

Wanda smiled, a warm and fuzzy feeling settling over her. "I think we will be officially one of these days. Our dads are so going to get married," she said, determinedly hopeful. "But I guess we can be soul sisters until then."

"Soul sisters," Jane agreed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I just really really have been wanting to write some sisterly moments where the girls just do sisterly things, especially after [Anon's suggestion for one based on Women's Day](http://archiveofourown.org/comments/61199392), whether it be absolutely nothing but chat like it's a sleepover such as in this or like another chapter later in this fic. And I had such a lovely time writing them having such a fluffy and completely ordinary conversation about life and feelings and stuff.  
> 2\. If the dialogue felt circular or disjointed at times, it was intentional. If you've ever chatted with a sibling/friend/etc. about deep things in a relaxed manner then you probably know that you're likely to bounce from one tangent to another while trying to make your points or react to the other person's points and so on. This was definitely supposed to be more stream-of-consciousness.  
> 3\. The Bicentennial Man is a Wanda/Vision reference obviously. In the short story by Isaac Asimov that inspired the Robin Williams movie a butler robot develops humanity, seeking to identify and be recognized as such, and -spoilers- the guiding force in his life is Little Miss who wishes to see robots have rights, urging her son and grandson to fight for them on behalf of the main character and whom is the android's final thought when he dies. In this series it's also implicit of Wanda's connection with JARVIS :)  
> 4\. "Wanda couldn't possibly imagine a world now" very very subtle reference to Wanda's probability powers


	7. Steve and Pietro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline - it's fairly clear in the chapter, but it's somewhere during the 3rd-4th week following Steve's injury.

The first couple of weeks of having an injured foot wasn't so bad. Well, minus trying to live down that weird first day, but he'd been so sick with pneumonia that it didn't really matter that he couldn't walk without crutches because he'd been confined to his bed anyhow. Then he got better and when he got better the struggle became real. Very real.

Real as in wandering around the house on his crutches because his body was so used to getting up at a certain time and so used to being active at that certain time. He'd tried to ignore the urge, get some extra sleep, but it was no use. His body had been too conditioned and so it was either roam the house or lie awake feeling like he might suffer from spontaneous combustion.

It was on one of these mornings he was surprised to find he wasn't the only one awake. Well, one time he _had_ run into his dad and Tony, but he hadn't really asked them why they weren't in bed and they hadn't really volunteered the information rather just asked him why he wasn't in bed so he still wasn't sure what that had been about or if he really wanted to know. This time, however, it was Pietro.

Steve ducked into the gym, stunned to find the boy not only awake but running on a treadmill. He'd _never_ seen him run on the treadmill in all the months of living with him. He wondered what had possessed him to do so now, and at that time of morning.

Steve watched silently for a moment, but Pietro's obvious lack of stamina and poor form compelled him to hobble over. "Hey, Pietro," he announced himself.

"Woah!" Pietro stopped sharply in surprise and nearly got rolled right off the machine as a result, only catching himself just time and bringing the machine to a stop too. "I didn't see you come in," he said, breathing really hard. He didn't even have a towel or water bottle with him.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry to startle you." Steve started with an apology and then an explanation. "I'm used to getting up to run, but… can't at the moment," he said with a chuckle. "So I've just been wandering the house. What about you? I didn't know you liked to get up to run." He knew that Pietro was fast though.

"I, uh… don't usually," he responded with a shrug.

"Well," Steve tilted his head slightly, "I sort of guessed that already." Pietro looked at him questioningly. "You seem to be making a lot of rookie mistakes. Were you even planning on eating after this?"

"You mean breakfast?"

Steve sighed. "Trust me. You'll want a protein bar and some water or Powerade within the next thirty minutes." He then winced as he considered the fact that Pietro probably hadn't warmed up in anyway just like he wasn't cooling down. "Also, if we don't get those legs rubbed down properly I can guarantee you, you're not going to want to run again for a really long time. You'll cringe at the thought."

Pietro slumped. "So it's true," he mumbled.

"What's true?"

"I tried out for middle school track on Monday. The coach said I'm fast, but being fast isn't enough to cut it."

"It isn't," Steve confirmed. "You need good form, discipline, to take care of your body," he added, even ironically he broken that rule himself and landed himself in his current condition. "But all of those are something you learn. It's something you get used to. You just have to really want it because it sucks big time at first," he told him honestly.

"I don't know what I'm doing," Pietro complained. "And the coach said I've only got until Friday. On Friday I try out again and if I'm still no good, then it's not my sport."

Steve considered it for a minute. "You know," hedged, "I could probably give you some pointers. Help you train the next few days for the tryout. But, again, that's only going to do any good if you really want to do this."

"I was born to run," Pietro said with a matter-of-fact nod.

Steve chuckled and shook his in answer. "You were born to do whatever you want as long as it's legal and not hurting anyone," he said, echoing something his dad told them all the time – especially Loki when he was being Loki or being annoyed at the rest of them for not being Loki. "So do you want to run track if it means lots of practice, learning how to stretch and take compress your legs, fuel your body properly and learn how to really throw your body? Because there's no pressure. Just because you're fast and everyone thinks you'd make a good runner doesn't mean it's what you really want."

Pietro scrunched his face hard and for a really long moment. At last he asked, "Do I have to practice this early in the morning like you do? Because I think I'd rather just go back to bed."

Steve smiled wide at him. "You can practice whenever. I didn't start running in the morning until a few years ago. You're definitely not ready for that yet. If I had run in the morning at your age, I'd probably have given up," he admitted.

"Then I want to try," Pietro said without any hesitation. "I can always quit later, right?"

"Right."

"Then, yeah, I want to try."

"Sounds like a plan then. And I might not be able to show you the right form, but I can talk to Sam and you know he can. Until then I think we should head to the kitchen to get you something to eat and drink and then I'll work on your legs a little so you're not too sore later. I don't want you to get hurt," he said in earnest.

"Okay," Pietro conceded and hurried out of the room, only to hurry back to the door when he realized Steve wasn't as quick in coming. "Sorry," he apologized.

"No big deal."

"And thanks for offering to help," he added as they walked down the hall.

"We'll call it living vicariously through you."

"Huh?"

Steve laughed. "It means since I won't likely be able to run track this year, I'll just have to enjoy helping you run track instead."

"Oh." He paused for a single beat. "Hey, so does that mean I can call you Coach Steve?"

Steve chuckled, not sure if he felt pleased by the notion or like he was some old man in comparison to the boy only five years younger than him. "You can call me whatever you want," he told him.

"Anything?" Pietro asked, far too much deviousness in his tone.

"Oh boy. I'm gonna regret that one. I can already tell," he joked, but if he was pretty sure he wouldn't. Not really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Because suddenly there were Coach Steve feels that had to be written. And suddenly there was need for Steve bonding with one of the younger kids, showing himself being a good big brother to one of the younger ones, etc.


	8. Skye and Natasha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline - shortly after chapter 1 of this fic, maybe 1-2 weeks, since prom at Bucky's school would be a couple weeks sooner than at SHIELD.

One fierce punch lay into the bag. Then another. Then another harder still. Then a kick. The sound of the assault had been heard before Skye even reached the gym. She watched with a frown as Natasha showed no mercy, held nothing back. They were the only two in the room, Thor and Pietro having given up their own activities in a hasty retreat which was how she knew where to find the older girl.

"Hey, what did that punching bag ever do to you, huh?" Skye decided humor was a good starting point.

"It isn't doing what I want it to," Natasha answered, voice tight as threw another two punches.

"Um," Skye glanced around, exaggerating the movement, "well, if you were hoping for it to fight back…" Then her mind went off tangent for a moment. "Although, I bet our dads could rig up a punching bag that could fight back."

Natasha stilled the bag as it swung back and looked at her with a dubiously amused look that was reminiscent of Bruce. "You really think our dads would?"

"Well, mine probably would," Skye said in consideration. "Yeah, that's definitely the kind of reckless thing he would want to do just to try. Of course, he would be the one to insist on testing it out. Then it would probably knock him senseless and he'd say it was too dangerous for the rest of us." She paused. "Or that's how it would have gone before."

Natasha snorted in understanding as she rolled her shoulders and her neck. "But now my dad would argue with him for a couple of days before inevitably giving in for some reason or another—"

"Probably after dad seduces him with the science and thrill of it." She added with an ugly snort, "And a bonus blowjob."

"Ew," Natasha grimaced and started punching the bag again. "Not in any mood to tolerate talk about sex, especially not between our dads," she said bluntly, though not harshly and Skye understood. "The point is my dad would only agree so long as the thing was about as useful in a fight as a fluffy bunny." Skye chuckled as she imagined an actual punching dummy shaped like a bunny and padded beyond reason, or maybe a giant inflatable bunny like those evil-looking inflatable clown punching bags. "And he'd _still_ watch your dad take it on while wringing his hands and telling him it wasn't a good idea. And the first hard hit he'd probably demand they disassemble it right then and there."

Skye's head fell back on her shoulders, laughing outright. "They're such weirdos." She shook her head and then looked back at Natasha, still smiling. The smile fell when she realized Natasha had gone back into her own little world, hitting the punching bag with laser sharp focus once more. "Natasha?"

"Weirdos in love," Natasha said and then stopped the bag again and closed her eyes. She shook her head and then moved away from it, taking off her gloves. "I don't think that's for me."

Skye furrowed her brow and glanced down, trying to make meaning of her non-sequitur. There was only one possibility she could think of. "James?" Natasha paused in unwrapping the tape from her knuckles. Then she regained her composure and continued. "Did he do something?"

Natasha didn't make any kind of response for long enough that Skye could only take it to mean she didn't want to talk about it. Or maybe she didn't want to talk to her about it. That... That thought hurt. She really liked having an older sister-figure rather than just an older brother. She didn't like the idea of being someone Natasha didn't trust or open up too. Maybe she just wasn't ready, Skye reasoned next. That was possible too. And being a pest probably wouldn't help so she turned to leave.

"He didn't," Natasha finally answered and Skye stopped mid-turn to turn back. Natasha still wasn't looking at her, but Skye realized it wasn't about her. It was about Natasha and her difficulties in opening up. "But I might," she said, finally glancing her way with calculating eyes like she might be waiting for Skye's initial shock or disgust. Mostly Skye was just confused. "I might break up with him," she finally divulged. 

"Okay," Skye said hesitantly. "You're not going to prom with him?"

She turned and looked at her with a broad shrug. "I don't know. He hasn't actually asked me yet."

"Is that why?" Skye tried to understand.

Natasha sighed and sat down on a nearby bench. "No. I... I don't know. I'm just," she shook her head, "confused. I don't know what I want and I hate it. Part of me wants to call it off because I just can't handle the long distance thing anymore. And not having him around all the time, it... makes it difficult for me to know if we really have a special connection anymore. That and we're both changing and that's only going to get worst when he graduates."

"Right," Skye nodded, "that makes sense."

"And it's probably even harder for him," Natasha reasoned. She looked away. "Then part of me is afraid I'd be making a mistake just because I'm overthinking this. I'm afraid I won't ever find another person who feels like an exception, who makes me feel special and makes me want to make them feel special. It's..." She scowled and glanced at the punching bag like she wanted to take out her aggression on it again. "It's frustrating."

There was a moment of silence. Natasha's voice had been as even as it ever was, not the sort of melodramatic thing people expected from teen angst, but she could tell Natasha was no less distraught for it. Skye moved to sit down beside her. She linked her arm with Natasha's and hugged it before placing her chin on the other girl's shoulder. Natasha didn't protest.

"I don't think that's possible," Skye said. "I mean, James seems like a cool guy and all," she teased, "but I'm sure if it doesn't work out you'll find someone else just as amazing who makes you want to try again if that's what you want. And it's not like there'll ever be any shortage of people hopelessly in love with you to choose from," she pointed out. "Maybe one will even be ace," she pulled away and gave her an exaggerated eye waggle. "Or maybe you're just underestimating how much you and James are meant to be together and it'll still work out regardless of when and how," she offered as another alternative.

"Maybe. I just wish I could get out of my head right now. I wish I had a clear answer."

Skye puffed out a cheek with air and then let it out. "Well, I don't know there's any real advice I can give you about that," she told her honestly. "And I may not be a punching bag," she added. "But whatever happens, I'm here, okay? If you want to just talk through it or if you want someone to be really cliché with, eating ice cream while making fun of bad chick flicks, I'm totally your go-to sibling." She tilted her head. "Or maybe we can make fun of really bad slasher flicks instead. I mean nothing says 'screw relationship drama' like blood and guts am I right?"

Natasha gave a genuine laugh and shook her head. "You sound like your dad."

"Thank you," Skye accepted the compliment with a patented Stark smile.

"Thank _you_ ," Natasha said with a small quirk of her lips in return. 

"For what? Badgering you about your feelings?" She gave a teasing snort.

"For reminding me they're valid and I'm allowed to talk about them," Natasha answered. "I'm still getting used to that."

Skye smiled and hugged her arm again. "Feelings suck too," she replied, deciding against something lame like 'you're welcome.' 

Natasha's expression was appreciative. Then she smirked. "So, ice cream and a slasher flick?"

"Oh yeah."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I didn't post yesterday. I'm going to blame it on election fatigue. I know that a lot of people are in dark places right now, not sure how to cope with the American election results. Hugs to all of you. Hopefully we can get through this together. I know that posting lighthearted fics about fantasy worlds doesn't help the issue, but if you do choose to read any of my updates right now I hope that it makes you feel some sort of comfort. This is precisely why I typically choose to write light, fluffy, etc. stuff. I want to offer escapism when sometimes there is none, especially with characters I love and want to see happy in ideal worlds. So if there's even a little tiny moment of escapism to be found for you as a reader from something I've written then I'm very honored to have offered it. If not, I hope that you find what you need elsewhere ♥
> 
> (Also today will be a 2 chapter day with another coming in a few hours or so.)


	9. Jane and Clint

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline - June 25th, 2016 so shortly after the Darcy and Peter chapter.

"Thanks for accompanying me on this trip," Jane said to Clint as they sat on the bus, waiting for all of the other students and chaperones to finish getting on so they could head out.

Her class was taking an end of the school year, Saturday field trip to a museum upstate and her dad had said he'd feel better if one of her older siblings could go along as well. Tony had agreed before leaving out of town for the week. Steve couldn't because he had his art course on Saturdays, Natasha had a recital, and neither Thor nor Loki had volunteered, so Clint had stepped up.

"Hey, no problem," Clint said with a shrug. "I don't know why our dads were being so overprotective about it. I mean, you're 14 now. Seems a little silly to me."

"I _know_ ," Jane said with a huff. "It's like I’m suddenly being treated like a little kid again. I don't get it."

"Me either," Clint agreed, "but I'd be bummed if it was the other way around so I've got your back. No sense in you missing it because our dads are going through one of their phases."

"Very selfless of you," Principal Coulson commented with a friendly smile and small chuckle. Jane looked up to see him standing beside their seat which was one at the very front of the bus. "Alright, everyone's accounted for," he said to the whole bus. "The rules are listed up here at the front." He pointed to the sign posted behind him. "I expect everyone to follow these rules. Anyone who doesn't gets to trade in their assigned group to be part of mine instead. Multiple infractions will face further consequence when we return to the school. So let's be on our best behavior and have a good time."

Coulson sat down next to a student in the seat beside theirs then and everyone cheered as the bus driver started up the bus. Well, everyone except Clint. Jane thought he suddenly seemed very tense about something.

"You okay?" she asked him.

"Huh?" He blinked and turned his head left to look at her. "Uh, yeah, sure. Just thinking. Aisle seats are boring. Want to trade?"

"No way!"

"Not even after I had your back?" He shook his head. "Harsh."

Jane considered it and did feel a little bad. "The bus is moving," she said, genuinely apologetic. "We can't trade now."

"She's technically right," Principal Coulson intervened.

"You can have the window seat on the way back," she offered.

"Whatever," he replied with a shrug.

"Are you mad at me?" Jane ventured after a minute. She was studying Clint and so was Coulson. "I'm sorry you had to come along. If you didn't want to—"

"No, I'm not mad," Clint interrupted. "Honest. I was given ample opportunity to back out. Your dad offered to give his ticket to me and trade off. He'd chaperone and I'd go with Pietro, Harley and Peter to the race."

Jane's eyes widened. "And you still came with me?"

"Duh. Not even a hard choice. The other kiddos would have been disappointed and it's not like you and me get to hang out all the time. Now, if it had been Darcy, then maybe I would have backed out," he then teased.

Jane elbowed. "Hey, now. Darcy's super fun to hang out with. I wish her class was part of the trip."

"Then I definitely would have backed out. One of you is enough." He elbowed her back.

"And I'm sure in that case your fathers would have insisted on one of them accompanying Jane instead," Coulson interjected.

"Do you know why they were so insistent?" Clint asked him, but his voice sounded a little strange to Jane. She wasn't sure why.

"I asked them if one of them could act as a chaperone for the trip. I said I'd feel a little more comfortable since it seems the paparazzi seem to be making your family a favorite target of late."

"Ah," Clint toned and Jane understood too. Her and Darcy's birthday weekend had been all over the tabloids and then right after that Tony had been accused by the tabloids of cheating. 

"When they said they'd both be unavailable and asked if an older sibling could tag along, I agreed. It's really only a matter of just in case. Should anything happen I felt it would be good for at least one family member to be present. Not that I expect it, but you never know."

Clint sighed. "Yeah, not with ass—" Coulson frowned at him and he cleared his throat. "Not with the media jerks. It's not like we're even interesting."

"Well," Coulson chuckled, "that's not the way the rest of the world sees it. When a well-known man with six kids enters into a serious relationship with another man, one with seven kids no less, people are bound to take notice. Homosexuality and large families are two very radical statements, whether or not they should be."

"Yeah," Jane commented. "Dad used to get weird looks sometimes when it was just us. I didn't understand them then, but I do now." She understood a lot of the hateful things that people could say or think now, between that confrontation with General Ross and some of the things magazines and people on websites said about their family. It made her sad. "A lot of people knew he was gay and thought it was wrong for him to have seven kids."

"He didn't deserve that," Clint said somberly. Then he threw an arm around her shoulders and gave her a sideways hug. "He's a great guy and a great dad." Jane smiled, knowing he meant it.

"His kids are proof of that," Coulson said with a warm smile.

Clint stared at Principal Coulson for a long moment. Then he looked back at Jane. She saw the way he'd been blinking away a strange expression that morphed into a smile of his own.

"Yeah, they are." He moved his arm back and nudged her shoulder with a playful, light punch. "Which is why I'm not even a little annoyed that I needed to tag along to watch out for my sister."

"Proof that Tony Stark is a great guy and a great dad too," Coulson said, patting Clint on the shoulder and then turning his gaze back towards some chaos that had broken out behind them. He got up and moved to see what was going on.

Jane on the other hand was looking at Clint with a furrowed brow. He had straightened up in his seat and was drumming his thighs like a nervous person would. And the side of his face was… Oh, was he _blushing_?

"Oh my god," she whispered, leaning in toward him. "Do you have a crush on Principal Coulson?"

He looked at her sharply, but his blush didn't go away. "What? No, of course not. That would be weird."

"Why? He's super nice and really handsome. I had a crush on a teacher like that once," she shared.

"I don't have a crush," he insisted, folding his arms.

Jane rolled her eyes and looked out the window. Boys were so dumb when it came to admitting stuff like this. She would never understand why. She glanced back at Clint with a crooked smile just the same. Dumb or not, she liked having him around. He was a way different sort of older brother than Steve, Thor and Loki. She looked back out the window when he noticed her staring and raised one eyebrow.

Then it suddenly occurred to her why he'd been so averse to the aisle seat and his head somewhere else.

"We can trade seats really quick at the next stop," she suggested, turning to him with a conspiratorial smile. "If you want."

He narrowed his eyes and she just kept smiling. "This doesn't mean what you probably think it means," he hedged finally, "but, I wouldn't mind." He indulged her with a thin smile that she knew what his way of saying thanks and admitting to his crush without actually admitting to it.

"Doesn't mean a thing," she assured him and made a gesture of zipping her lips before smiling wide again. Whether or not he would admit it outright, she definitely wouldn't spill his secret. She had his back too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Guess Clint's not as over his younger self's crush on Coulson as he thought lol.  
> 2\. Some little tidbits in this chapter, such as Tony being out of town and the tabloids, will be fleshed out a little bit more later. Also, Steve's art course is the one that he got as a gift in the Christmas fic.


	10. Darcy and Thor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline - none specifically, just some time during the school year and prior to Something Borrowed, Something Blue.

"What!?" Darcy's heartbeat got faster. "Oh no." She searched desperately through the folders. Then she searched her cloud account. "No, no, no, no!" She shook her head and then looked through everything else again just to be sure. "This can't be happening!"

"What can't be happening?" Thor asked, stopping as he came from the kitchen. Darcy looked up at him from her laptop to see him studying her as he chewed on a bite of his Pop-tarts.

Darcy looked back at the laptop again. Her initialized search for any of the files had turned up nothing. She whined, "My photo essay is due tomorrow and I can't find any of my photos to finish it! I must have grabbed the wrong media card because all that's here is pictures of pencils and pens and other weird stuff around the classroom. Mine was about identity through clothing!"

Thor came over and sat across from her at the table. "Did you save them to the cloud?"

Darcy looked down guiltily. She was always forgetting to do that or turning off the auto-sync feature when she found it annoying. "I guess not," she mumbled.

 _I have thoroughly searched the cloud as requested and have not found designated folder,_ JARVIS confirmed.

"What am I going to do?" Darcy dropped her head into her arms on the table top. "I was going to be daring. It was going to be about the fluidity of fashion as a means of expression and identity." She'd worked really hard on that title and stance too! "I took photos of one of my friends in a bunch of outfits and now they're gone." She lifted her head slightly to look at him, feeling like she might cry if he or somebody else couldn't give her an answer.

He frowned. "Can you pick a different topic and take photos around the house?" Darcy just dropped her head in despair at the thought. "Or maybe you can find someone else to take photos of in a lot of different outfits," he suggested then. Darcy's head popped up and she looked at him with wide eyes as he finished his Pop-tart. He furrowed his brow. "What?"

"Can you do it? Please? Please? Pretty pretty please?"

Thor shrugged. "Doesn't seem too hard. How many pictures do you need?"

"Oh, um…" Darcy suddenly realized a potential problem and bit her lip. "My, uh, my friend also dressed like a boy in a couple of the pictures."

"So…" Thor hesitated, looking like he was trying to understand what she meant. "Like you want me to wear a dress or something like that?" Darcy gave him a nervous nod. She wasn't stupid. She knew it was easier for girls to dress in boy clothes than boys in girl clothes, even if some really wanted to, and so he might say no. After a moment he said, "Well, I don't think I could fit any of Natasha's or Skye's dresses. But they might have a skirt I could borrow. Or one of those flowy shirts they wear that are two or three sizes too big."

Darcy's eyes nearly bugged out of her head and her mouth opened in surprise. "You mean you don't mind?"

Thor scrunched his face. "Mind what? Wearing girl clothes?"

"Yeah."

"It wouldn't be the first time," he answered with a hitch of his shoulder.

"Really?" Darcy blinked and tilted her head.

He chuckled. "Really. One year when we were really little, when Jane was still just a baby, Loki and I were Luke and Leia for Halloween. Loki didn't want to be Leia so I was. Steve was Han Solo and Jane was Chewbacca. Dad even dressed up as Darth Vader."

"Oh,I want to see pictures!" Darcy forgot about her assignment momentarily. "Do you have pictures?"

Thor laughed again. "We all agreed later that the photos belonged in the blackmail box. Not that I mind that I was Leia, but we all looked pretty goofy as a whole."

Darcy wrinkled her nose. "Well, I think it sounds cute and funny," she said.

"Yes, well, either way I really don't mind. I also wore a dress in a class play once since the class had more boys than girls that year." He shrugged. "As long as I can find something that can fit me, I'm more than happy to let you take pictures of me." He stood to his feet. "How about I go ask Natasha and you go ahead and get whatever you need ready," he suggested.

"Okay!" She chirped and smiled at him as he left the table. She watched him, but then suddenly said, "Thor, wait." He stopped and looked back at her. Darcy got up and moved to where he stood. She gave him a hug which he returned without any questions or protests. Then again, Thor was a hugger and his hugs were really nice. "You're really okay with the whole class seeing this pictures?" She looked up at him. Asking one more time couldn't hurt.

"Darcy," Thor said in a solemn tone, looking back down at her, "they're just clothes. Is that not the point of your photo essay? What was it? The fluidity of fashion-"

"-as a means of expression and identity," Darcy completed verbatim with a nod.

"Alright then," he said with his own nod. "That means my choosing to wear clothes typically worn by girls enables me to express individuality or my identity. I dictate the rules, not the clothes. Maybe I want to express my interests in the feminine," he said with a shrug. "Maybe I actually want to identify as a female. Or maybe I just like wearing dresses and think it's stupid that it has to be more complicated than that just because boys are told they should always wear pants."

"Wow." Darcy blinked. "That's deep. Like, you should post that on Facebook or something."

Thor laughed and squeezed her shoulder. "It shouldn't have to be," he told her. "So maybe I just want to help my little sister out in proving that point with her photo essay." He winked at her.

Darcy smiled wide and cheered, "Alright! Then let's do this!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. A little bit of surprise! Thor can be deep feels. With the inclusion of him being a little more fluid in his ideology on identity inspired by the canon (e.g. headcanons regarding Asgardian culture, inclusion of the Norse mythos, etc.) and inspired by Lady!Thor.  
> 2\. And I feel Darcy's pain at the beginning on a spiritual level. My dumb ass is always turning off the sync feature and then forgetting to manually upload things to the cloud. I'm not a kid though so I should really know better lol.  
> 3\. Another 2-for-1 day since AO3 was giving me issues again last night.


	11. Harley and Peter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline - another ambiguous one for you. But I feel like it's closer to the end of Lucky Thirteen than some of the others. Maybe even sometime in January, especially given the game they're playing.

"Dude," Harley quietly cheered, "we've never gotten this far on survival mode before. This is getting intense."

"I know right!" Peter said more loudly only to clamp his mouth shut.

They paused the game and then looked at each other with wide eyes. Harley swallowed a snicker as best as he could and he could tell Peter wanted to laugh too. They held this position for a couple of minutes before simultaneously sighing in relief when it was clear nobody had heard them. They returned to the game and played in silence for a few moments.

When they cleared yet another level, Harley ventured, "Man, why are we so much better at this game at three in the morning?"

Peter shrugged, controller still in hand. "I think I'm better at everything at three in the morning. One time dad let us stay up all night and everything I did I was good at. I made this really cool drawing of a comic character that probably woulda looked ugly in the day time. And like we played, um, I think it was Operation and I was super good at getting the pieces out."

"Your dad let you stay up the whole night?" Harley asked, surprised, while still focusing on getting through the level. "I thought he'd be like no way about that sort of thing."

"He's been way less strict now that we've moved here—"

"And my dad's gotten stricter," Harley thought out loud. It wasn't that it was awful, but it seemed like he urged them to try falling asleep earlier and the tech cut off time went up by a half an hour on weekends and school breaks. "Like, not a lot, but a little bit."

"But yeah he let us all stay up on New Year's Eve a couple years ago because we asked if we could and he gave in."

"Cool. Maybe we should ask if we can do that this year. That'd be awesome."

"We should."

They played in silence again, save for whispered commentary about their actual game play until they moved through two more levels.

"Hey, Pete?" Harley asked finally, not sure if he should, but still concerned. "Are you feeling better?" Peter didn't answer right away and Harley wondered if he'd just gone and reminded him all over again.

"Yeah," he finally answered. "I'm okay now."

Harley gave a sigh of relief. "That's good. We can keep playing though."

"I still get sad," Peter said after another moment of just playing the game. "I guess like you do. But I guess I'm also glad that at least everything is okay now."

"Yeah," Harley replied, knowing what he meant about still getting sad.

"Like, I'm happy I have my brothers and sisters. And our dads. I'm glad I have you, bro," Peter added like he was trying not to be sappy, but he was totally being sappy.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Harley said with a chuckle and shook his head. "You don't have to say it. I know, bro."

"But, I really am glad," Peter said. "That's why I'm okay. If you were mean maybe I wouldn't be. So thanks for not being mean."

Harley laughed. "No problem, dude."

"What's going on in here?"

Harley's eyes went wide. He paused the game quickly and looked at Peter to see his similar expression. They turned their heads in sync to see his Harley's dad standing in the doorway. He didn't look mad exactly. His arms weren't crossed or his eyes demanding. He looked a little tired, but he was still obviously studying them and expecting an answer.

"I…" Harley looked at Peter. "I, uh…"

"I had a nightmare," Peter admitted, looking down. Harley looked back at his dad to see he looked a little more awake now. "About my uncle and aunt," Peter added, almost whispering.

"Oh, Peter," his dad came over and sat beside them. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Peter answered. "I sort of panicked and hit Harley when he tried to wake me up though."

"It's fine, dude," Harley said with a shrug. "You didn't hit me that hard." His dad glanced at him with that scrutinizing look he got sometimes when listening to any of them tell a story or explain an incident.

"I was sort of panicking, but Harley helped me."

"I told him to breathe," Harley supplied. "And then we started talking about the basketball game to take his mind off it."

"And then when I didn't want to go back to sleep, Harley said we should just stay up and play a video game instead," Peter finished. He looked at Harley with an uncertain expression and then they both looked at his dad.

"Well," Tony blinked and then stood back to his feet, "sounds like everything's under control here. Need a hug Peter?"

"Um…" Peter looked like he wasn't sure, but then nodded quietly and stood to give him a hug.

"One for you too, kiddo." His dad held out his other arm. Harley rolled his eyes, but also smiled and got up to join the hug. "Okay, then," his dad said pulling back and holding them each by one shoulder as he looked down at them. "How about another half an hour of your video game, I'll have J keep count for you, and then if you still can't sleep you'll have to do something else like talk or play go fish until you do crash."

"Okay," Harley promised.

"Okay," Peter agreed, more quietly.

"Well, if you need anything, come knock on our door, okay?" They both nodded. "Sweet dreams, you two. Assuming you don't stay up until breakfast," he added with a small, gravely laugh and then left the room.

They went back to playing the game again, not saying anything at first, but then Peter mumbled. "I'm really glad."

Harley wasn't sure if he was supposed to hear that, but he smiled and replied, "I'm really glad too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. This was meant to involve the actual waking of Peter from the nightmare and talking him down, but I just was feeling it too dark in light of a lot of recent darkness, so I decided to skip to the fluffy after care and just mention in past tense the event, thus having Tony as a neutral party.  
> 2\. The game they are playing is Disney Infinity which they received as a Christmas present in the holiday fic.


	12. Loki and Wanda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline - June 26th, 2016 so literally the day after the Jane and Clint chapter.

Loki heard the canter of hooves behind him. Drawing nearer it slowed to a trot. He smirked a little and shook his head.

"You could have asked me to wait before setting out," he said without looking back.

"And you could have waited without having to be asked," Wanda countered and his smirk broadened, twisting into something a little more pleased. "But it's fine. Scarlet needed the warm up. Isn't that right," she cooed to her horse then.

"So, Skye has been talking incessantly to me about actualizing Operation Marriage Proposal when your dad gets back from his trip," he said conversationally as she came up beside him on the trail and matched Scarlet's gait with his horse which was currently a leisurely walk. As he'd come to have a good deal of respect for Wanda's input on things, regardless her younger age, he was curious about her opinion.

"She's been talking to everyone," Wanda replied. "She's trying to get us all to agree with her sudden conviction that if we don't intervene they're going to just stay complacent about the marriage thing and the tabloids are going to keep harping on the idea that it's because there's trouble in paradise."

Loki snorted. "Because they wouldn't try to spin a messy divorce story every few months if they were married?"

Wanda laughed in turn. "Right?" Then she sighed. "Has she shared with you the statistics yet? She was going on about it with me and Clint last night."

"Ah, you mean the nonsense she was spewing about the divorce rate increasing the longer a couple lives together unmarried before tying the knot? I must admit I mostly tuned her out at that point. Our dads are more than capable of doing their own thing until they decide like grownups whether they want to get married or not."

"I like facts and numbers. Probability makes sense to me," Wanda said thoughtfully. "But I think in this case it needs to happen organically. Like Clint said to her: we can't turn them into statistics."

"Clint's on our side then? That makes four of us." She tilted her head in his direction. "I know for certain Steve is hesitant to do anything. He says it's because he thinks that it means we think it's inevitable they'll break up if we don't. But," he smiled with a hint of mischief, "I'm positive he'd rather just forget the unfortunate day he sent that text ever happened."

Wanda laughed again. "I can't forget him banging on the walls because he was _locked_ ," the air quote was implied in her tone "in the bathroom. Not the most pleasant way to be woken up, but hilarious in retrospect."

"So is there anyone else on our side? I know Natasha isn't which is a little surprising."

"Really? She isn't?"

"Hm-mm. She seems to think our dads have been acting a bit weird lately. She just hasn't been able to get any indication of why. Assuming it's not all in her mind." Loki rolled his eyes.

Wanda went quiet for a moment. "That's… interesting." He wondered if she was suddenly tempted to join in on Skye's well-meaning if misguided scheme. "She has the younger kids of course. And she said Jane is the one who helped her get the statistics in the first place. They seem to be the coleaders on this."

"Well, looks like it's just the four of us then since I know she'll have no problem convincing Thor. This should be fun," Loki drawled.

"Yeah. Especially since she's very touchy about it. When Clint told her she was being paranoid she actually accused Clint of maybe wanting them to break up and—"

"What!?" Loki interrupted, turning his head sharply to look at her. "That's ridiculous. We may not all be equally demonstrative of our sentiment, but Skye has missed the absolute obvious if she would count _Clint_ as a neutral party on the topic."

Suddenly, his horse began to sway and he noticed the way his body had gone tense. Then Scarlet began to shy away as well.

"Woah, girl," Wanda tried to control her sidestep and soothe her. "It's okay, you're okay. Loki, lead him away before they can spook each other."

"Right, of course," Loki replied, trying to recall that part of his instructions. "Come on," he urged the horse with a silver-tongue. "Let's just move a few feet ahead. That's a good—"

"Woah!" Wanda was suddenly rushing past him as Scarlet spooked anyhow and bolted away.

Loki's stomach sank as he watched with wide eyes. He felt his horse startle and then shake as if holding back a bolt of its own. Loki strengthened his posture and then with an earnest, "Come on, boy," he gave him a gentle nudge to put him into a gallop after the runaways.

So far Wanda seemed to be managing the hectic ride and he knew she was probably trained in handling a horse during a spook, more than he would be, but all of the worst case scenarios ran through his head as he saw her attempts to get Scarlet back under control and heard her muffled exhortations to the horse.

"Oh god, please don't get hurt," he muttered and urged his own horse on a little more. He wouldn't be able to forgive the universe if she were to get hurt. Another thought flashed through his mind. One of Jemma, who had just begun her own lessons at last, being in a similar position. "Dammit, no, none of that," he cursed himself for losing focus. He didn't need to lose control of his own horse.

Loki pulled his horse back to a canter when he realized Wanda had managed to do the same and then down to a trot as relief filled him. Wanda had managed to ride out the spook and was clearly regaining control. After a few more minutes, she had Scarlet halted and quickly she dismounted. She was breathing deeply and Loki dismounted as well to hurry over to her, as calmly as he could manage just in case.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

She took a deep breath and then exhaled before giving a nod. "Yeah, I'm fine. She doesn't usually spook that bad. I don't know what came over her."

"That is a lie," Loki replied knowingly. "You know as well as I do I spooked them both with my body language."

"Not necessarily," Wanda played devil's advocate on his behalf. "There might have been something that spooked him and you just weren't paying attention to the signs. It could be coincidence."

Loki had to give a sharp laugh despite everything, a good deal of it an extension of his relief. "Yes, well, if you're willing to give me a free pass I will take it."

She straightened her back and moved to grab the lead line. Loki followed suit, but when he turned back he realized any fear over the ordeal she'd had was suddenly turned to amusement, a devious smirk aimed at him.

"And," she said, "I certainly wouldn't want to embarrass you by implying it had anything to do with your getting defensive about Clint."

Loki wasn't easily stunned or silenced, but the quickness of her wit left him momentarily so. "Why, you little witch," he said with an impressed, sharp smile.

Wanda shared his toothy smile and warned, "And don't you forget it."

"Oh, no worries about that," Loki told her. "I always had a feeling you were the truly cunning Stark."

"Even more than Clint?"

His smile turned down, though not with real malice. "I was momentarily worried about your safety, but I would not vex that good will if I were you."

She rolled her eyes broadly. "Alright, god of mischief and misanthropy," she teased. "We can stop all this nonsensical talk of you caring about us. Don't have a meltdown."

He gave her a small _hmph_ and eye roll of his own. He admired her spunk and tolerated her barbs more than he would with many others.

"But first," he indulged her because of this, "did Skye apologize?"

She glanced at him sidelong, a look in her eyes that told him she understood the point of his question. "She did," she answered.

"Good," he replied simply and she didn't press the matter further. She didn't need to because she understood the point of his answer just as much as she had his question: he did care about them as far as he was capable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I was having horse feelings.  
> 2\. I like when Wanda is being a sassy thing in the comics tbh.  
> 3\. Stop trying to be a misanthrope to your family, Loki. You're not allowed to do that in this verse. I will not let you. Neither will Wanda. (note this is not meant to actually dismiss the psychological struggles of misanthropes please don't come for me)


	13. One Step Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline - This chapter takes place a couple of days after the Loki and Wanda chapter, which means it also takes place a little over a week after Something Borrowed, Something Blue and is basically the extension of/companion to Bruce's pov in that fic - his feelings as well as his suspicions that their family unit is getting stronger.

"Okay, you know we have to bring it up. Your little family has been showing up in the media a lot lately. You've gone on record several times about your efforts to protect your kids from that exposure. Is it proving difficult now?"

Bruce joined the kids as they all gathered around watching another one of the handful of talk shows Tony was squeezing in while on company tour. Almost immediately he couldn't help but look at the other man on the screen with concern. Even with the make-up he looked tired, which was to be expected with his compressed schedule. Tony seemed to think he could squeeze in the usual two-week stint on the west coast into one, trying to work it around birthdays and then the upcoming trip to DisneyWorld. Bruce worried that he was going to wear himself thin, and the irony of his concern wasn't lost on him given the shoe had been on his own foot, and his heart wouldn't be happy with him for it. But then Tony started talking and he forced himself to push those thoughts away to focus on every word.

"I love the continued ironic use of the word little in describing our family," Tony started with a laugh. "But yeah, it's a little more difficult," he answered. "As a dad I'm plenty aware of the culture, or at least I try to be. I'm sure I'm not hip enough for my kids sometimes… or, you know, maybe they wish I wasn't so hip because they think they'll die from embarrassment." The audience laughed and Tony looked at the screen with a smile and a tug of his ear. "They're probably dying of embarrassment right now."

There was a chorus of: "Yes" and "We are" and "Dad, please" from the kids in answer and Bruce laughed.

"The thing is I know my kids are busy keeping up with the Kardashians and the Jenners and the, the, well, all the other branded kids and young celebrities out there so it's naïve to think that there's not an audience out there that would like to see that same kind of thing from us. They want to see how we live, how our kids dress and act, and all that stuff. And since there's a supply, somebody's going to try and meet that demand. It's getting a little harder to just weed it all out with PR censorship, although we still do take libel very, very seriously and will not stop on that front. But I think we're starting to realize while we're not going to make our family some kind of media brand, we're going to have to start combating this a little bit differently. A lot of that for us is having open dialogue with our kids about the issue. We want them to come to us if they feel worried, or violated, or uncomfortable and Dr. Banner and I are going to do our best to negate anything damaging being hurled at our kids by countering it. We can't change all of the cruelty out there, but we can definitely help our kids deal with it."

Bruce found himself nodding along with Tony during his passionate speech. He was showing all of the signs of his conviction in the way his face was drawn and the tone of his voice and Bruce felt it deeply. He knew exactly what Tony was referring to and he glanced at Darcy, wondering if she knew too.

"So no make-up lines or reality shows?"

Tony laughed. "Hey, you never know about the make-up. Any number of our kids have the potential to be entrepreneurs. They're amazing like that. And I don't have anything inherently against other families living their lives the way they want to, you know? So I hope nobody spins this that way. They probably will anyway, but the point is the media attempting to pry into our lives isn't going to find anything they won't find elsewhere in a lot of homes across the country. More kids and more privilege perhaps, I don't deny that, but we're pretty average in a lot of ways. We get up in the morning. We eat breakfast. It's a madhouse. Our kids rush off to school. Dr. Banner and I rush off to work. We come home and there's dinner and homework and curfews and bedtimes. Then if Bruce and I are lucky enough not to be completely exhausted, well…" Tony smiled salaciously and winked at the camera as the audience and host responded in a jokingly scandalized way to his comment. Bruce wasn't sure if the heat in his cheeks was from the thought of going on a week without Tony or just plain embarrassment over Tony casually making vague reference to their sex life.

The kids that understood it seemed just as embarrassed or grossed out by it with groans and "ew" and Steve asking, "Why was that necessary?" and Clint saying, "To normalize homosexuality so that's it's not so threatening? Or probably just to embarrass us?"

"Well, that definitely sounds average."

"But never dull," Tony was quick to add.

"So, now, you said that you still take libel very, very seriously. I'm going to go out on a limb given how obvious it is you love your life the way it is—"

"I definitely do."

"Right, so I'm going to assume you were referring to the photos that circulated last week. You were spotted being friendly with a mysterious woman outside a jewelry store and there were a lot of suggestions about the nature of the incident."

Bruce rolled his eyes on Tony's behalf since it was obvious he wanted to. What a miniature mess that had been, especially since the kids had out before they'd been able to prevent the photos making the rounds on the major internet celebrity news and gossip sites. They'd come home from work the previous Tuesday to an army of kids demanding answers, some fearing the worst. It hadn't helped that Tony was set to leave for his trip the very next morning, making it look more like a convenient separation. 

"And most of those suggestions were just plain ignorant," Tony said as the photo of him hugging said 'mysterious' woman came up on the screen. Bruce shook his head, part amused in retrospect – he and Tony _had_ had a good laugh about it once the kids were settled down and they were alone in bed discussing it – and part still frustrated by the ignorance. "I mean, one, I'd be doing a horrible job of sneaking behind Dr. Banner's back since it's broad daylight and you can clearly see my face. Give me a little more credit, please," he said with flippant humor that Bruce knew he was using to try and keep himself calm. "Two, the most intimate shot was what, a hug? And at one point her arm was locked with mine? I don't know. But I do know that's really not the issue going on here. The _real issue_ here is some people are just waiting for some horrible scandal where I abandon Dr. Banner for a woman because I can't help myself or something. It's ludicrous really because _nothing_ could be further from the truth"

"You're not looking for anyone else."

"I'm not," Tony confirmed. "Take this as you will, but I have no current plans of ever looking again." Bruce felt his frustration melt away and his heart swell. "And, hey, that's not to say I don't still find women attractive. Just like I don't expect Dr. Banner not to look at other men and think, 'hell yeah wouldn't mind tapping that.'" Bruce choked on a laugh as the audience laughed. "But, hey, I do that with men too. It's all just punctuated with ' _if_ I wasn't already happy and in love with that man I'm with.'" The audience responded with applause, cutting him off and Tony smiled at them. Bruce couldn't help but smile back. "Anyhow for those late to the party, we've released a statement regarding the truth behind the photos. She's a family member of Dr. Banner's and I happened to run into her. The extent of our affair was spending a little time together in a jewelry store," he said with a more at-ease laugh. "It's even funnier because she sent Dr. Banner a photo of me and her together so he knew all about the meeting before TMZ did. Before we even knew TMZ knew."

"I'm sure that helped."

"Well, he also said he would have recognized the back of her head from the other photos without the context or confirmation," Tony added with a laugh. "That would have helped too."

"So, I have to ask and I'm sure some out there have moved on to other speculation now that everything's been cleared up. Why would Tony Stark be visiting a jewelry store? Does it have anything to do with having no current plans of finding someone else?"

Tony shrugged in a playful manner and smiled. "You never know." He paused for a single beat. "But there's also a special young lady in my life who has a birthday soon." Skye immediately squealed in response. "Since I know she's watching I cannot confirm or deny that she's actually getting jewelry."

"Did you hear that, Steve? You might be getting jewelry," Natasha teased, elbowing him, and he shoved her back with a roll of his eyes and chuckle.

"I'm getting jewelry!?" Skye ignored them both in favor of the truth of the revelation.

"Cannot confirm or deny," Bruce reiterated and they all seemed to realize at once that he'd joined them. Clint paused the recording.

"I told them not to start without you and Jemma," Wanda said, effectively throwing the other eleven present kids under the bus and receiving quick backlash from them for it.

He chuckled. "It's fine. Your dad will probably call or text me later so that more than makes up for it."

"Oh god," Clint seemed affronted, "I just had a horrible thought. _Please_ tell me you two don't sext." Bruce's eyes widened and all of the older kids looked at him with equally beseeching expressions. "Because if anyone hacks your phones that's going to be way worse than dad getting caught hugging Jen at a jewelry store."

"I, uh…"

"Uh, hey, where's Jemma?" Harley asked, effectively saving him from that conversation whether by intent or not.

"Jemma is finishing up a calm-down session," he said, keeping his voice even only by years and years of practice.

"She's in time-out?" Darcy asked.

"Not quite," he answered, regaining his composure. "She and Leo had a very dramatic argument during their call and apparently are 'no longer friends, no take backs, until the end of time,'" he repeated the ordeal to them with a straight face, which he had to admit wasn't entirely easy. "Needless to say she's pretty devastated right now so I told her she could have up to ten minutes by herself just to sulk about it. But I suspect when she joins us she'll still be pretty touchy so—"

"So we should cheer her up!" Skye chirped.

"Yeah," Clint agreed. "Break ups are a bi—" Bruce raised his eyebrows. "Beast. They're a beast."

"We should have a fondue party!" Harley suggested and Pietro readily agreed.

"For Jemma or for you?" Bruce asked with suspicious amusement even as he was a little surprised by the response toward Jemma's dilemma.

"Leo is a jerk!" Jemma declared melodramatically, joining them just then. Bruce turned his head to see her stomping across the room with her arms folded and a pout on her face. "He wasn't nice to me at all."

"No, he wasn't, was he, sweetheart?" Bruce replied with a sigh.

While she'd said a few things too that he'd told her already wasn't the right response, Betty had thoroughly agreed that the bulk of the fight and meanness was on Leo's side this time and she'd be dealing with it appropriately. Of course, in Jemma's mind that didn't matter since they were already no longer best friends, no take backs, until the end of time.

"Jemma, forget about Leo," Jane said. She came over and pulled Jemma gently by the hand until she was the center of attention. "We're going to cheer you up!"

"I can't be cheered up," Jemma responded with a quivery chin.

"Why not? _We_ still love you," Wanda pointed out. "And you don't deserve to be sad just because Leo was mean."

"Indeed,” Loki agreed, “you should be happy to spite the boy."

Jemma looked around at all of them, her face scrunched up and eyes ponderous like she might be trying to process the contrary suggestion. It was clear the moment it clicked because her eyes lit up. It was followed by a wide grin. Bruce had to give a small chortle.

"Oh! So, I should be happy because it would make him mad!"

"Exactly!" Skye said.

"So, Jem, what do you want to do?" Steve asked her. "Anything you want at all."

"Within reason," Bruce chimed in before he could be outgunned and not a second too soon as all of them started throwing out ideas, including fondue again, and Jemma got caught up in the whirlwind of excitement – her face bright and the previous sullen mood easing away for the time being.

Bruce's heart caught in his throat and he took a step back, reeling slightly, as water flooded his eyes. The talk of what to do faded into a sort of boisterous background noise and his eyes found the television where it hadn't yet changed to a screensaver, Tony's smile stealing the rest of his breath. Suddenly none of his apprehension and excuses made sense anymore. He knew what he wanted so why was he still fighting?

"You okay, doc?" Clint broke through his reverie and he blinked away the tears to see all the kids looking at him in curious concern.

"Yeah," Bruce smiled thinly, "yeah, I think I am." He nodded in determination. "In fact, I don't think I've ever been better."

He was going to ask Tony to marry him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I know that with this chapter being Bruce pov that means poor lil Jemma didn't get a pov chapter in this fic out of all the kids which...is super ironic since she's not supposed to be left out anymore, but I tried to sidestep that by making everyone rallying around Jemma being a catalyst (like her running away had been an important catalyst) in the potential future of Bruce and Tony's relationship.   
> 2\. The pictures of Tony and Jennifer in the tabloids is what was implied in the Clint and Jane chapter about Tony supposedly cheating on Bruce. And while I didn't say this outright, it's an unspoken idea I had that those pics and the mini panic some of the kids had had is what has led to Skye's sudden fixation on them getting married.   
> 3\. Chapter title inspired by "A Thousand Years" since I kept thinking of the line "all of my doubts suddenly go away somehow" and it also seemed fitting for the them of the step by step the family is getting stronger and then this is one step closer to the possible next step in Bruce and Tony's relationship.   
> 4\. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S BEEN A YEAR SINCE I FIRST POSTED THIS FIC!!!!!!


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